The Snow Leopard's Christmas Surprise

by Emilia Hartley

  “You thinking wheels?” Nick grunted. He hadn’t paid much attention to the car as it arrived, so he couldn’t be too sure of anything until he took a look.

  Tom shrugged. “Only one way to find out,” he said, pasting a fake, professional smile on as the short, auburn-haired woman walked through the door of the shop’s small office. He was around the counter, hand outstretched and smile as bright as the sun didn’t shine in their part of the world before the woman even had a chance to introduce herself.

  Nick noticed her before Tom did, something registering immediately in his memory bank. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to confirm things with Tom before his brother started on his usual sales pitch.

  “Hello,” Tom greeted cheerily. “I couldn’t help but notice you rode in kinda rough. Everything alright?”

  The woman smiled. “Oh, yes. I mean, no, it’s not alright. Are you the mechanics?”

  Tom nodded. “Yep. Like the sign says, I’m Tom Brewer and this here’s Nick Brewer, of ‘Brewer Mechanics’.” Nick grumbled a hello as a greeting, still unsure of how to proceed. He was never much of a people person, leaving that sort of thing to his brother whenever possible.

  The woman didn’t seem to mind, turning back to Tom with a small smile. “Glad to meet you.” She flit another glance to Nick, and he couldn’t help but be put on edge. Did she have that same feeling of familiarity that he did? Before he could muse more, she turned back to Tom. “I’m here about my car…?” Another glance at Nick before she snapped back to attention. “I mean, obviously it’s about my car,” she repeated, sounding flustered.

  Tom beamed at her, his signature move for gathering the customer’s full attention. So he noticed that she’s distracted, too, Nick thought as Tom spoke. “That’s fine we can totally help you with that. Do you have any idea what’s wrong with it?”

  She shrugged. “Everything, I think? I’m not entirely sure. That’s why I brought it here.” Her gaze was slightly agitated, and Nick found himself smirking at her masked frustration. Not many women could look past Tom’s salesman charms and placating smiles to show annoyance.

  She gazed back at her broken vehicle. “The back wheel is at a bad angle, nearly falling off, it looks like. Dents everywhere. The dashboard is lighting up like Christmas Day. And I think one of my headlights is busted.” She shrugged again. “I’m just happy I got it here before dark.”

  Tom let out a low whistle. “That doesn’t sound good at all.” Nick could tell something was beginning to click in his brother’s mind as he worked to get the full story from the woman. “This all happened at once? An accident, perhaps? Is there another vehicle that needs assistance somewhere?”

  The woman shook her head and Nick followed the happy bounce her hair gave. “No, nothing like that. It was just me, a bit further up the road—”

  “About fifteen miles outside town limits?” Tom asked, and nick noticed that an air of realization had overcome him.

  Nick could tell she disliked being cut off, that agitation filling her eyes again as she shook her head. “I didn’t really have time to measure. I guess that sounds about right. Anyway, there were two bears. Well, I mean there was one bear with a stripe, then another one showed up and then—” she gestured hopelessly towards her car. “That happened.”

  “I see,” Tom muttered, shooting Nick an inscrutable look. “Bears, you say! It’s a wonder you got here at all!” Nick stopped himself from rolling his eyes at his brother’s mock concern.

  “Yeah,” the woman replied. “I’m sure.” She looked weary, and with a pang of guilt, Nick realized he couldn’t blame her.

  Nick stood, the most movement he’d made since the woman entered the shop. “I’ll—we’ll take a look, alright? See what we can do.” She looked hopefully at him and he tried for a smile.

  Apparently whatever showed was enough, because she nodded once in reply. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  Nick and Tom exchanged a look as they left the office, not bothering to slide into their winter jackets before stepping outside. Even after the door closed, Nick felt like he could still feel the sensation of her eyes on his skin, he was so highly aware of her presence back in the office. His senses were going haywire. He could tell she was frustrated and worried and overwhelmingly stressed, but what he didn’t expect was the sudden urge to help will those emotions away. And yes she was attractive, striking even, but he felt that he’d stared too long, too intensely, so much so that even Tom felt the need to step in and pull her attention away. She was definitely the same woman, there was no doubt about it, he’d remember that auburn hair anywhere, but Nick couldn’t help thinking something more clicked between them from the moment she’d walked through that office door.

  As Nick mused, Tom eyed the damage done to the woman’s car. “We sure did a lot of damage,” he muttered running his hand over the dents and scrapes.

  Nick scoffed. “You mean, you did.”

  “Hey, you could have warned a guy that there was a car stalled out at the bottom of the hill!”

  Nick shrugged, a smug grin coloring his face. “If you can’t use your senses to be more aware, it’s not my problem.” Tom snorted, checking the major damage on the tire in lieu of responding to Nick’s jab.

  Nick peered over his brother’s shoulder. “What’s the damage?”

  “Not good,” Tom replied, standing. “Looks like the entire wheel needs replacing, plus control arms and bearings. Then an alignment before it’s road ready.” He glanced at the front of the car. “The left headlight is busted, too. How did we manage that?” Nick shrugged.

  “We got everything in stock to do the job?” Nick asked, guiltily eyeing all the damage they’d caused over some senseless rough housing.

  Tom grimaced, mentally cataloging all of the shop’s spare parts. “Don’t reckon so. We’ll more than likely need to send off for the control arms, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Can we put a rush on the order? Maybe get this repair done today?” Nick asked, dutifully ignoring the suspicious glance his brother shot him.

  “We can order it today, but it’ll take two days minimum to get here.”

  Nick bit back a curse. “Fine.” He sighed. “I guess we can get to work fixing the light and buffing out the cuts and bruises while we wait for the part to arrive.”

  “I’ll call it in,” Tom said. He eyed Nick a bit before asking, “You alright bro?”

  Nick nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just felt like putting a rush on things and getting it done as soon as possible. Was kinda digging getting a lazy day, you know?”

  “Sure,” Tom replied, and Nick could tell he was thoroughly unconvinced. They shared a moment of tense eye contact before Tom looked away.

  Shrugging, he stretched and said. “You know, this ain’t gonna be cheap, Nick.” He looked up at Nick with a new gleam in his eye. “You wanna tell her, or you want me to?”

  Narrowing his eyes, Nick frowned. “I’ll do it.”

  “Good,” Tom replied cheekily. “You’ve hardly said anything to her at all since she arrived. I wonder if she thinks you’re rude or just a grouch?”

  “We both know the roles we play,” Nick retorted, defensively. “You don’t trust easy, so you like smooth talk your way into getting information, which is why I let you do all the talking.” Nick shrugged. “But if that’s the way you wanna play it, I’m game. I’ll play friends with the human, alright?”

  Tom shrugged back. “Hey, I was saying quite the opposite. You’re not really the type to chat it up with the customers and you’re quick to leave the people-personing to me.” He gave his brother a skeptical look. “That is, until now.” Before Nick could open his mouth to retort, he shook his head. “Hey, I’m not saying it means anything. I’m just not one to pass all of the hard work over to you for once. But you’re new to this side of the business so… just make sure you get her name at least, okay?”

  Muttering under his breath, Nick strode away from his brother’s smug gaze without a w
ord of retort. He steadied himself before opening the office door, arranging his features into some semblance of a smile. He threw the door wide, and as their eyes met, he wasn’t prepared for the shock of electricity that coursed through him. She truly was striking. Her eyes were bright—with worry, or wit, or kindness he wasn’t sure yet, but they almost sparkled, even in the dim lighting of the drab office space. Her hair bounced with a life of its own when she’d started at his sudden arrival. He’d forgotten for just the slightest moment that she didn’t have his keen senses. He’d have to be more careful about that in the future.

  What? The future? What future?

  Suddenly, a jolt of a different kind hit him, this time of shock and mild embarrassment. He’d been standing in the doorway for heaven knows how long and hadn’t spoken so much as a word to her.

  Say hi, damn you! He smiled again, adopting his best Tom impression. “Good afternoon, miss. I uh, I realize I never actually greeted you when you came in.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I’m sorry about that. Just been a busy day. I must’ve lost myself in the work,” he said, shrugging. He kept the smile firm on his lips, but he couldn’t make it reach his eyes as he hid from her—and from himself—the overwhelming attraction that he felt for her. He’d felt it back then, too, as a bear staring down the terrified woman that had been tossed about in her car only moments before daring to slam on her horn to shoo away two fully grown tousling brown bears.

  What a woman, he’d thought then, and he couldn’t help but feel the same way now.

  Jo smiled kindly, and everything looked just a little bit brighter. “Oh, I understand. It’s not a problem.” She looked as if she was struggling to meet his gaze, before steeling herself and holding out her hand. “I’m Jo Barrowman. It’s nice to meet you, Mr…” she trailed off with a smile.

  Nick knew she already knew his name, but his smile grew a little more genuine as he decided to humor her. “Nick. Nick Brewer. No Mister,” he replied, taking her hand in a gentle grasp. There was no denying the tingles and sparks that danced between them as their skin made contact, especially hearing the slight gasp that hissed softly through Jo’s lips, but Nick did his best to ignore them.

  He pulled away a little too quickly, trying and failing to inconspicuously rub the lingering tingles away on the thin fabric of his t-shirt. He could tell Jo noticed his movements, but he felt it best to just keep pressing forward. “It seems you’ve had a rough time of it,” he continued, sitting in one of the scattered office chairs and motioning for her to sit in another. She grabbed a steaming cup behind her before sitting. When had she made coffee? Why hadn’t Nick noticed the pungent smell of the beans or the heat of the water in the air? He shook his confused thoughts free, knowing that pondering things now would only make the situation worse. “So, uh, yeah. We’ll be happy to fix up your car for you,” he finished with a smile.

  “Really?” Jo let out a sigh of relief that made Nick want to lie back and relax. “Do you know how long it will take?” she asked, eyes hopeful.

  Okay, here goes nothing… “Depends,” he replied, non-committal. “You got somewhere to be?”

  Jo nodded emphatically. “Yes, I have a client to meet in San Francisco in a couple of days’ time.”

  “Ah.” Nick couldn’t hide his disappointment for her, and he could see that she’d read his features well, her expression falling immediately. “Unfortunately you might have to rearrange that.”

  “I… I see.” Jo nodded, steeling herself to move forward right before Nick’s eyes. It was truly inspiring. “Do you know how long it will take?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, we have to send off for a part. It’ll take a couple days to get here, but we can work on the rest of your car while we wait. The best estimate I can give you is…” he steeled himself, knowing that she wasn’t going to like the answer before he even uttered it, “… four days. Five, tops.”

  Jo stared at Nick for one silent heartbeat, and he could almost hear her entire world crashing around her. “Five days?! I have to be in San Francisco, tomorrow. Then I have to spend the remainder of my free time preparing to meet with a once in a lifetime client the next day!” She was babbling now, bubbling over with panic and clenching her coffee so tight, Nick worried she might spill the hot liquid onto her hands at any moment’s notice. “This is the worst possible news you could have given me. My boss is going to freak!”

  “Hey, hey, there’s nothing you can do about it—” Nick began.

  “Yeah well try telling that to my boss. Now I have to beg and grovel for mercy because I’m too incompetent to meet a high profile client on time!”

  “It was the bears,” Nick tried to console. “That’s beyond even your control. Surely your boss will understand that.”

  Jo scoffed, and Nick could smell the tears in her eyes before the first one slid down her cheek. “That’s a pretty thought, but he’s just not that kind of guy. I promise you that.” She shook her head softly. “Sorry, this more than likely doesn’t even make sense to you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nick murmured.

  Jo shook her head again. “No, it’s okay. You’re a mechanic. You’re just doing your job as best you can. None of this extra stuff is your fault,” she assured, wiping away the stray tears.

  A pang of guilt hit Nick square in the chest with a force that made him gasp. He tried to hide it under a cough in case she’d noticed, but she was already standing.

  “Sorry,” she sniffed, never noticing the war of emotions Nick was going through. “You probably can’t even imagine the kind of time I’ve been having. It’s just been… heavy for me. I didn’t mean to unload on you.” She feigned a smile before turning towards the door. “I best go call my boss.”

  ***

  “She didn’t take it well, I assume?”

  Nick bit back a growl. “What’s it matter?”

  Tom shrugged “I reckon it matters a whole bunch considering she bawled all over you and then left the office to phone her boss.”

  “Wonderful,” Nick grumbled, silently cursing his brother’s keen hearing. He sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Do?” Tom gave his brother a peculiar look. “There’s nothing for you to do other than fix her car. Her personal life is none of our business. What the hell do you mean?”

  What the hell do I mean? Nick repeated angrily to himself. “Nothing. I’m just not used to all of that—the crying women and stuff.”

  Tom nodded his understanding, giving Nick a solid pat on his wide bicep. “This is why you need to stick with what you know. I’m the people person for a reason, bro.”

  Nick chuckled. “Noted. No more people-personing for me.” Tom gave him one last pat before heading into the back to make a call for the part they’d need. Nick made sure tom closed the door firmly before he started to pace. It wouldn’t take long for Tom to make the call, but Nick only need a short moment to collect himself. He wasn’t thinking straight and he needed to get his thoughts in order before he saw either his brother or the customer, Jo, again.

  As if he’d summoned her himself, there she was pacing impatiently in the cool evening weather, nearly in time with Nick’s own movements. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were tinted red from the winds that were blowing and she had her phone pressed closely to her ear. She did not look happy.

  Suddenly, it clicked. He knew how he’d help in a way only he could.

  The backroom door opened. “It’s ordered,” Tom declared, stepping back into the office. His eyes followed Nick’s out the front-facing window to where Jo was still pacing and talking quickly into her phone.

  “Good. How long?” Nick asked, playing off how enthralled he’d been by her.

  Nick breathed an inward sigh of relief as Tom chose to ignore his staring. “A couple of days at the earliest. It was the best they could do.”

  Nick nodded in understanding, then steeling his resolve, he said, “This isn’t fair to her, and you know it, Tom. We did that t
o her car.”

  Tom shrugged. “So? She doesn’t know that.”

  “But I do! And so do you! Don’t you feel at least a little bit responsible?” Tom shrugged again, completely uncaring. Nick frowned at his brother’s non-committal reaction. “We shouldn’t charge her for our time.”

  Tom’s jaw nearly dropped at the proposition. “You mean work for free?”

  “Yeah, I mean work for free. She can pay for parts—even though that’s our fault too—but that’s it. No overpricing, and we don’t charge anything for labor.” He shot a look at his brother. “It’s only fair.”

  Tom grumbled to himself for a moment but eventually relented. Even he could see the fault in their actions that lead to the damaged on the human girl’s car. “Yeah, yeah whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

  Chapter Four

  “Can’t you for once see my side to things?!” Jo shouted into the phone and immediately regretted it. She knew that yelling at Brian would only earn her yet another lecture on top of the countless others he had queued up for her, but even still the sentence flew out of her with a fervor that she couldn’t control. She was at her wit’s end.

  She heard the loud inhale on the other end of the line, a telltale sign that Brian was about to go off on one of his guilt trip diatribes and make her entire ordeal about him, but she beat him to the punch. “They were bears, Brian. Bears. Remember that before you tell me I had a choice in this,” she advised, keeping her voice at a more appropriate volume.

  The recommendation didn’t help. Brian was soon elbow-deep in a lofty scolding, complete with his fake posh British accent. He whined and complained in his typical high-pitched voice, only furthering her frustration levels.

  He prattled on about how big of a disappointment she was for the umpteenth time before something just snapped. Not saying a word, Jo pulled the phone from her ear, staring at the screen in blank submission before just… hanging up. She’d had enough. Brian knew her situation now and it was his job to sort things out with the client. She didn’t even have enough energy to feel satisfied with her defiance.